Re: Thoughts on Knicks/Sixers games (long)

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Joe, I couldn't agree more with this post. I know all of us are sick of
waiting for the draft every year, but I honestly view this as a win-win
season. If the Celts put it all together and play well and make the
playoffs, that's wonderful. If not, then the upcoming summer promises to be
one of the most eventful in the history of the franchise. Pitino no doubt
will be gone (however you feel about him), and it will be a turning point
for the franchise. It should be a deep, talented draft, Antoine's BYC status
comes off (making him very tradeable), and the possibility actually exists,
given a few moves, that the Celts could be under the increased salary cap. 

I'm hoping Pitino and Wallace see this and resist any urge to ship off any
or all of these draft picks for a marginal improvement (a la Potapenko) at
midseason. This team needs the infusion of talent the June draft should
bring. Even if they don't get lucky and land one of those centers, as you
mentioned there are no shortage of impact players who could be available.

Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy the season for what it is. If everything
breaks right, the playoffs are possible. If not, we'll hope for the best on
lottery day. 

Mark

P.S. I should mention, I think the team played well the last two games. The
effort was there, they defended well, and they executed pretty well
offensively. They looked as polished as any team during the Pitino era.
That's one reason I came away discouraged. They played well and lost. That
means the talent just isn't where it needs to be. It's easy to forget that
during the offseason, but it becomes painfully obvious over the course of a
long NBA season.